Pokemon 2006: Sonic and the Silver Wing
by ZachaRicO
Summary: The evil Dr. Eggman has a new scheme up his red sleeve. When he kidnaps a beloved friend, Sonic leaps to the rescue. But the blue blur soon finds himself against an even greater threat: a mysterious white hedgehog named Silver intent on killing him. And just what is Eggman's plan? Sonic 06 Pokemon Crossover. Contains Advanceshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**To begin, I apologize for not uploading this sooner. I got lazy with writing it, but it's ready now: the next installment in the Sonic-Pokemon Crossover Saga!**

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><p>Chapter 1: The Ruined Festival<p>

Fireworks soared into the sky and exploded into bright and beautiful colors, reflecting in the waters of Cerulean Cape. The night was lively, causing anyone nearby to squeal with delight at the sight. Not far from the city that shared the cape's name, the people celebrated the annual Water Festival, hosted by none other than the gym leader herself, and even she, normally stressed out with all that comes from being a gym leader – much less one following in the shadow of three older sisters – found herself surprisingly relaxed and enjoying everyone's company. Her sisters were away on a sabbatical, so she was left to manage the festival herself. There were many people there, most of whom she didn't know, some whom she knew a little, and only a few she would call acquaintances.

She continued to scan the faces, subconsciously hoping that her eyes would land on an all-too familiar face. But she knew it was futile.

"Hey, Misty!"

She jumped. _That voice!_

"Brock?"

A tan man, slightly older than her, ran up to her, grinning widely. He wore an orange shirt with a green vest. His eyes were squinted and looked perpetually shut. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."

"And I was looking for you," she smiled. "Thanks for coming, Brock."

"The pleasure's all mine. What are friends for?"

Misty chuckled, and an awkward silence followed as their faces fell slightly.

"Did you...ask him?" she asked.

"I couldn't get a hold of him," Brock shrugged sadly. "He said he had other plans." Misty's face fell. "Misty…"

"It's fine," she replied, smiling. "As long as he's happy. Now come on! The main event's gonna start soon."

With that, she ran up to a walkway and made sure Brock had a front-row seat to see what was about to happen – she also made sure there were no pretty girls nearby, as she had responsibilities to attend to, so she couldn't drag him away by the ear. There may have been some pushing and shoving, but it wasn't serious. She had a lot of authority at this festival, so people didn't make too big a fuss.

A horn blew suddenly, gathering everyone's attention as Misty was called forward to begin the main event. She slowly strode forward, her more formal attire – a red dress – draping behind her, while her fiery hair was let completely loose so that it reached halfway down her back. As per usual, the elderly man handed her the small, indigo orb and had her place it on the pedestal. As she was about to, however, she suddenly faltered. The crowd gasped.

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><p><em>She found herself staring down at the city as it burned in flames, a terrifying cacophony of screams echoing through the starless night. Smoke billowed into the sky, and she could feel utter despair wrack her heart. <em>What's happening?! _she thought in alarm._ What is –?!

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><p>"Misty!"<p>

She shook her head, coming to. "What is it?"

"Is everything all right?" the man standing beside her asked.

She looked at him a moment and smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine." With that, she resumed her duties, placing the orb onto the pedestal and turning a switch on its side. The orb instantly began to glow, and streams of light burst from it, creating a beautiful mosaic in the air. Everyone oohed and ahhed, followed by an eruption of cheers. Misty turned around, smiled, and waved, another firework soaring into the sky.

Only it wasn't a firework. It was a missile. And it landed right in the middle of the throng.

The now-terrified people scattered in panic. Misty herself was shocked and searched desperately for cover. "Brock!"

It was no use. Before she knew what was happening, a shadow overtook the whole festival, a legion of robots falling from above and surrounding her, keeping everyone else out. Brock tried to get to her, but he was held back by two robots.

A small, one-man ship descended from the sky, a portly man in a red blazer manning it. "Greetings, Misty, Gym Leader of Cerulean City. I understand that we have met before, but never formally. Therefore, allow me to introduce myself." He bowed. "I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, but you may call me Dr. Eggman, if you wish." He stood up straight. "And now that formalities are out of the way, I shall get what I came for."

"What do you want?" Misty growled.

Eggman merely snickered. "You have something that I've been searching for ever since I came to this world, and now I shall have it:

"_The Silver Wing!_"

Misty gasped and held a small, silver pendant on her neck.

"Hand it over, and your people will be spared. Don't make this harder than it needs to be." No one noticed a slight swirl begin to stir around them, a blue hue tainting it.

"Don't do it, Misty!" Brock shouted. "You know it won't go over well!"

Misty nodded. "I know." She turned back to Eggman. "What do you plan to do with it?"  
>"What do <em>you<em> think?" he sneered menacingly, but his breath quickly got sucked out of him as the swirling wind picked up speed, surrounding him and the robots with him. "Nngh! What's this –?!"

"You're putting on quite the show, aren't you, Eggman?" Everyone turned to look up and see a blue hedgehog standing on top of a small structure. "Well I hate to break it to ya, but this is Misty's night tonight! No upstaging allowed!"

Misty's eyes widened. "It's Sonic!"

"You irritating hedgehog! Take this!" With that, Eggman shot a missile out of his machine and it headed straight for the blue hedgehog, while the other robots began firing at him as well. He merely jumped just as it hit his location. Misty watched this and could have sworn she saw the silhouette of a certain Pokemon trainer jumping right alongside him. He landed in front of Misty.

"What are you doing here?"

"You gotta get outta here," he turned and looked at her. "Leave him to me." With that, he jumped around, easily decimating Eggman's small legion.

"Come on!" she snapped. "Let's go together!" Sonic nodded and charged after her.

"That blasted rat has meddled with my plans for the last time!" Eggman snarled, pursuing them. They didn't look back as they tore through the route in a desperate effort to reach Cerulean City. In their hurry, they also failed to notice another figure standing not far off, a mysterious glow in his eyes.

"I've finally found him," he nodded, holding his fist. "The Disturbance."

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><p><strong>What's that? Missing disclaimer? Well...I guess you could say it "glitched out."<strong>

**Anyways, what did you think? Feel free to rate and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**As KHSonicFan29 pointed out, the last chapter was pretty short. Sorry about that. I'll make it up to you by uploading two chapters at once.**

**Too bad half of this chapter is poorly done on my end. But since this is based on the worst Sonic game in history, it's okay, right?**

**Just kidding.**

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><p>Chapter 2: Happy Anniversary!<p>

The view from Indigo Plateau was truly a sight. Overlooking the majesty of not one but _two_ regions, those lucky enough to be allowed to look over these regions from the top of the small region's tower were few. Most of them were the members of the world's various regional Elite Four, though there were yet still few who were not holders of such a title.

One of these was the aspiring Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum.

His reputation as a Pokemon trainer had spread across the world, from his native Kanto to the far reaches of Hoenn and Kalos. While his official record wasn't quite on par with any Elite Four member's, his unofficial records would make his childhood idol, the great Pokemon Master Red, flame with jealousy. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder: why did he get to be so lucky? Why did he get to meet so many rare Pokemon?

As he looked over the vast world around him, he blinked and realized that time was still moving. He checked his watch. _Uh oh._ He was a minute late. Smirking slightly, he placed the palms of his hands slightly apart in front of him. A glowing sphere of blue energy formed between his palms. It slowly grew until it touched both his palms. Then a small beam of blue energy fired into the sky, subtle enough that only one other person would notice. And that's just what Ash wanted.

After a moment, a gleam from beneath him confirmed that the person he was looking for had gotten the message. He grinned on seeing this.

The sun in the sky shone in all its brilliance, but if someone looked close enough, they could notice a faint beam of blue striking it through the middle so that it seemed to be split in half.

_Just like our ribbon._

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><p>As Ash stood at the gate a familiar but welcome face ran towards him, laughter filling the air as she leapt into his arms. He picked her up and spun her around, prompting even more laughter as they basked in the warmth of each other's embrace.<p>

"It's so good to see you," she smiled warmly as they broke apart. "Three months is way too long to be away from each other."

"I agree," he nodded.

"And this time around, it's extra special!" she beamed.

"Why's that?" he feigned confusion.

"Don't you know what today is?" she put her hands on her hips, glaring playfully at him.

"Uh...Friday? The sixteenth?" She continued to stare at him with her playful stare while he feigned confusion. Then he broke out into a wide grin as he took her hand.

"Happy anniversary, May."

May giggled and embraced him again, pecking his cheek as she did so. "Gosh, has it really been a year already? It feels like it hasn't been THAT long."

"Yeah, more like five months, right?" They broke apart, smiling ear to ear.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I can't wait to see what you've got in store for me today!"

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><p>When Misty, Brock, and Sonic managed to get back to Cerulean City, they paused to catch their breath. "So Sonic, what brings you over here?" Misty asked, perplexed.<p>

"Nothing special," he smirked. "I go where the wind blows. It's in my nature."

Brock and Misty chuckled as his words reminded them of a certain someone they missed. "Well, it's nice to see you," Brock shrugged. "I sure hope you plan to stick around for a while."

"We'll see," Sonic shrugged. It was then that another legion of robots dropped from the sky and surrounded them. Sonic braced himself for the fight, shifting all his focus.

"Agh! Sonic!"

"Huh?!" he exclaimed, and he watched as Misty was caged by a certain talking egg.

"You had your chance, Misty," Eggman growled. "Now, you're coming with me."

"Ungh! Brock! Take this!" she called, tossing her necklace. Brock caught it and stowed it away in safety while Sonic looked on, intrigued. Eggman flew away with his legion, while Brock ran in the opposite direction towards the gym. Sonic was left in the dust.

"Huh," he muttered. "Well, this is a unique situation. Oh well. Guess I better figure out what's going on."

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><p>"This is delicious!" May squealed as she dug into her ramen. "I can't remember the last time I had ramen that tasted so good!"<p>

"Oh, I don't know," Ash rolled his eyes playfully. "Probably the last time we ate out at a noodle restaurant." May giggled. "So, how have your contests been going?"  
>"Great!" she replied enthusiastically. "I'm all set for the next Grand Festival, and this time, I have a lot of confidence that I can win!"<p>

Ash chuckled. "You've had confidence before," he reminded her. "What makes this time any different?"

"The combinations my Pokemon and I have developed are dazzling. Maybe I should show you later!"

"Yeah, maybe," he nodded, his eyes suddenly wandering as a familiar yet strange feeling probed his heart. _I wonder where you are, now…_

"Ash?"

He blinked, snapping out of his trance. "Huh?"

"Are you okay? You spaced out for a moment."

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled slightly. "I'm fine. It's just...um...I'll tell you later."

She nodded, and they continued to enjoy their meal, but the feeling in Ash's heart didn't leave.

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><p>The next day, Sonic was hanging around the beach, still unsure as to Eggman's whereabouts. He'd talked to everyone in town, but they knew nothing. "Ugh...if only Tails were here…"<p>

"Hey, Sonic!"

Sonic quietly thanked heaven and rushed over to his two-tailed friend. "Hiya, Tails! I was just wishing you were here, actually."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "What, do you have a genie of some kind?"

"Genie?!" Sonic exclaimed. "Ha! Yeah right! Like I'll ever run into one of those!"

"Well anyway, what's up?"

"Well, something happened last night," he explained, and he told Tails all about the ruined Festival and Eggman.

"So Eggman's up to something again."

"Yeah. Somehow, I'm not surprised, but I don't know where he is."

"Well, by my guess, he's probably headed to his base at Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh," Tails shrugged. "He can't be too far, though. I'm sure we can catch up to him quickly."

Sonic, seeing Tails' point, nodded, and they started the chase. "Whataya think he wants with Misty?" Tails wondered aloud.

"I dunno," Sonic shrugged as he ran, "but I'm not willing to wait around to find out."

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><p>Eggman's ship landed briefly in the Orre region for minor repairs. The region was largely barren, as it was mostly desert, so nobody seemed to care. As his robots repaired his ship, Misty managed to get some talk out of him.<p>

"Just what do you want with me?" she snapped.

"Now whoever said I wanted anything with you?" he smirked. "I was merely interested in that Silver Wing of yours."

"Fine," she growled. "But what do you want with that?"

"Again...what do _you_ think?"

"If you're looking to capture Lugia, you're crazy!"

He just chuckled. "Did it only now become obvious?"

"Lugia won't come for you, even if you had ten Silver Wings."

"Then I'll force him out," Eggman sneered.

Misty's eyes widened. "No," she gasped. "You don't mean –"

"Hold it right there!"

They turned and saw two familiar faces staring at them in determination. "Sonic!"

"Guh! How did you get here so quickly?! I flew over an ocean!"

"You seem to forget about my friends, Egghead," Sonic smirked. "With the X-Tornado, I don't need to worry about oceans."

"Then I'll give you something you _should_ worry about!" he snarled. "Go, my legion, and decimate him!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You gotta wonder why 'Live and Learn' is so popular," he sighed. Within minutes, the army was decimated. "Come on, Misty! Let's get you back!" With that, he smashed Misty's cage to pieces.

"No!" Eggman cried, but he was silenced when Tails socked him in the jaw. Within minutes, they were in the superplane and gone. Eggman cursed. "I'll get that wing," he growled. "And nothing is going to stop me!"

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><p>Back on Route 4, just outside Cerulean City, the X-Tornado landed, and Sonic, Tails, and Misty paused to catch their breath. Soon afterwards, Tails flew the Tornado back into town to repair it after the skirmish.<p>

"Are you all right?" Sonic asked Misty.

"Yes. Yes, I am," she nodded. "Thank you for saving me."

"Eh, no biggie. I do it everyday," he smirked.

Misty gasped. "Your arm! It's bleeding!"

Sonic glanced at his arm. Sure enough, a small cut was spurting blood. He shrugged. "Meh. It's nothing."

"Don't say that!" she exclaimed in irritation, pulling out a small gauze and wrapping it around the cut.

"Well I wasn't asking, but thanks anyway," he shrugged again.

She nodded, and her face fell. "I didn't mean to overreact, it's just…" She faltered.

"What? What is it?"

She stayed still a moment, then shook it off. "Nothing. I just...you remind me so much of a certain someone I miss with all my heart."

Though it took a moment for Sonic to grasp what she was saying, he nodded when he got it. "You should really just smile," he grinned. It was at this opportune moment that a Butterfree landed on his nose. He blinked. "Uh…"

Misty just giggled, while he winced. "Aaaaa-CHOO!" he sneezed, causing the Butterfree to fly away. Misty just giggled more while he sweatdropped. "Let's just get you back home," he snickered. She agreed, and with that they strode back into Cerulean City.

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><p><strong>Don't worry, the next chapter is better. I promise.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Silver Storm

It had been a couple days since the whole "Festival Fiasco," as the papers were calling it, happened. Misty was still missing, though nobody knew she had just returned to town. As Sonic and Misty strode into town, they felt relieved that the situation was over.

It was at this moment, however, that a sudden green blast of energy struck the area in front of them, stunning them so that they jumped back. "What –?!"

"I've been looking for you."

They looked up and saw a new face staring them down. "You're the Disturbance that will upset all harmony. Your actions will condemn us all!"

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed, confused. "What are you talking about? Who the heck are you?!"

The white hedgehog stared him down menacingly. "My name is Silver! For the sake of the future and for all people, I will destroy you!"

Sonic instantly kicked into defensive mode. "Misty, stand back." She nodded and moved, ready at a moment's notice to intervene.

"I don't know what you want," Sonic snapped to the white hedgehog called Silver, "but I don't think you'd be willing to discuss it over a chili dog."

"Oho, a wisecracker, huh?" Silver growled. "We'll see who's laughing when I'm done with you!" Suddenly, a small chair glowed a mysterious green and floated towards Silver.

"What –?!" Sonic gasped.

"Take this!" Silver shouted, throwing it at him. Sonic was too stunned to think to dodge, but as soon as the chair hit its target, his senses came back. He fell back, shook his head, and jumped back up. Silver grabbed another chair with his power and was about to throw it at him when the blue blur rammed into him, knocking him over. "Ungh!" But Silver leapt back up, fazed but not undone, and glared at Sonic. Sonic charged him again, but as soon as he got within punching range, his body glowed a strange green.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?!" Silver growled.

"Uh-oh," was all Sonic said.

"Ha-RAH!" Silver grunted, throwing him into a building. The blow hurt Sonic, but he recovered quickly and readied himself for another attack. Silver rushed at him, but Sonic, knowing what he was thinking, dashed away. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

"Hiding wasn't the plan!" he called back, grinning.

Silver clenched his fists in anger. "You think this is a game?!" he shouted. "All right, but _you're_ the one who's gonna lose!" With that, he lifted a table with his power. "How about _this_?!"

Sonic just snickered as Silver prepared to throw the furniture and charged at him again, knocking him down while the table fell on his head. "Ungh!"

"Ha! How's _that_ for a good move, huh?" he chuckled as he watched Silver push the table off him. His grin faded when he saw the mysterious white hedgehog groan in pain as he struggled to get up. _Uh-oh. I think that hurt more than I intended. Well, maybe now he'll be willing to talk._ He cautiously walked over to him. "Hey, you okay? Listen, I don't know what's going on, but –"

"RAH!" Silver suddenly grunted, thrusting his palms out in front of him. Sonic glowed again, and felt himself get thrown violently backwards and into another building. He fell to the ground, weak.

_Oh no!_ Misty thought. _I've got to help him!_

"Good grief!" Sonic groaned, struggling to get on his hands and knees. "What are you trying to do, throw me to the moon or something?!"

Silver walked over to him, standing over him. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he spat. "How can someone as weak as you cause the destruction of the world?"

"Wha...What do you mean?"

Silver shook his head. "It doesn't matter. As long as you live, the future is in peril. I will not let you destroy my world!" With that, he raised his hands to finish the job.

"STARYU, GO! USE BUBBLEBEAM!"

A sudden flurry of bubbles slammed into Silver, knocking him down due to shock. "What?!"

"Huh...Misty?" Sonic grunted.

"What is this?!" Silver shouted angrily.

"Stay away from him!"

When the bubbles ceased, Silver looked up and saw Misty standing behind one of her signature Pokemon.

"Get out of my way," he growled. "The Disturbance must die."

"You're not getting anywhere near him, you creep," Misty growled back, her temper growing.

"Then I guess we'll do this the hard way," he nodded, using his telekinetic power to throw Staryu back into its trainer. Misty grunted in pain as she and Staryu fell to the ground. Silver turned back to Sonic's struggling form, although he was on his feet now. "Now, where were we? Oh, that's right...saving the world from _you!_" But before he could finish Sonic off, another blast of water knocked him over. "How –?!"

"I told you to stay away from him!" Misty shouted as her Corsola sprayed Silver down.

The white hedgehog neutralized the water gun attack with his power and threw Corsola onto Misty. Just as she was getting up, two robotic arms suddenly appeared and snatched her. "Augh! Not again!"

Sonic immediately perked. "Misty?! No, wait!" He started to run after her.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Silver nearly screamed, freezing Sonic in place with his power. Sonic struggled to get away, but to no avail as the white hedgehog advanced on him. "It's time I finally put an end to this!"

"ONIX! USE IRON TAIL!"

A sudden thrust of power knocked Silver down and freed Sonic from his grip. Sonic looked up and saw Brock standing there, a frightened look on his face.

"Thanks Brock," he nodded before he ran off.

"Hurry, Sonic! Eggman got Misty again! He's headed towards Johto!"

Sonic took in this information and set his sights on going West.

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><p>"Wow, May, that was fantastic!" Ash said as she finished showing off her Pokemon's new moves.<p>

"You think so?" she winked at him.

"You bet! That was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen!"

"Aw, Ash," she blushed, smiling sheepishly. "You're embarrassing me."

"Get used to it," he smiled. "I can't wait to see the look on Drew's face when he sees _that_ one."

"Me neither!" she giggled. "And to think, after all this time, he _still_ thinks he's better than me!" She huffed, suddenly annoyed. "I'll show him. I'll –"

"May," Ash put a hand on her arm. She looked at him, curious. "You don't have to get riled up about him. He doesn't know you. I do. And I know you're fantastic. Heck, if you don't place at least _second_ at the festival, I'll assume it was rigged!"

May was laughing before he even finished his statement. When he saw this, he started laughing, too. For a moment that's all they did: laugh with each other for sheer happiness. Finally, when they calmed down, May pecked Ash on the cheek again.

"You're the best, you know that?" she sighed as she embraced him. "It really doesn't get any better than this."

"Oh, yes it does," he grinned.

She looked back at him, puzzled.

"Follow me."

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><p>"Sonic!"<p>

Sonic skidded to a stop on hearing the familiar voice. "Tails? What's up?"

The two-tailed fox flew down to him and beckoned him. "You might want to see this." Sonic nodded and followed him into the back lawn of Pewter City's museum. There, a familiar red echidna was standing, arms folded across his chest.

"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed pleasantly. "What brings you here?"

"Word on the street is that Eggman's up to something," Knuckles said, holding a hologram to his blue friend. "Check this out."

Sonic activated the hologram and saw Eggman's figure. "_This message is for Sonic. If you want me to release Misty, then I'll make you a deal. You bring me the Silver Wing she gave you. Then, and only then, will I release her to you. No fight, no hidden fees. It's as simple as that. You have thirty-six hours. Meet me at Viridian's Underground._" With that, the message faded.

"Sounds like a trap to me," Knuckles scratched the back of his head. "He never gives up without a fight."

"I agree," Tails nodded. "But how else will we get to Misty in time?"

Sonic looked at them and smirked. "With our feet, our tails, and our fists. Whataya say, guys?"

"I'm sure you already know our response," Knuckles grinned, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tails grinned.

"Time to rock and roll!" Sonic cheered.

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><p>"You were right," May smiled as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder. "It <em>does<em> get better."

"Doesn't it?" he grinned. They were on top of the Indigo Plateau, taking in the magnificent view of Johto.

"Everything looks different from up here," she sighed. "So much smaller, but it all fits together to form a masterpiece."

"You can say that again."

She looked to their right and saw a dark mass swirling. "But what's that?"

Ash looked up and watched with a sad look as the swirling mass continued its violent assault on an old favorite place of his.

"It's Mt. Silver."

May looked at him, perplexed. "Mt. Silver?"

"And Silver Town," he nodded. "It was where I competed in the Silver Conference. I was hoping I could take you there for our anniversary." He sighed sadly. "But it's been abandoned for five years. Those blizzards drove everyone away."

She looked at his crestfallen face, a sympathetic look on her own. "Ash...it's okay. This is more wonderful than anything I could have imagined for an anniversary celebration. Don't feel bad just because it didn't work out exactly the way you wanted it to."

He looked back at her, a smile on his face. "Thanks, May." With that, they embraced. May rested her head on his shoulder, while he held her as tight as he could.

_There's something over there..._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Transcendence

"Well, well, well," Eggman sneered as Sonic and company walked into a large chamber. "I'm pleased to see you made it here in one piece. My security didn't give you too much trouble, did it?"

"Save the formalities, Eggman," Sonic snapped as he defiantly strode into the chamber. "You asked for the Silver Wing, and so I have it."

"Good," the evil scientist grinned. "Then put it right there, and I'll let Misty go." He pointed to a small pedestal in the center of the chamber. Sonic did as he was told, while Eggman walked over to a large monitor which was now buzzing as it displayed numbers arranged in an incomprehensible pattern. His smirk turned to an angry frown as he read this, and he turned back towards his nemesis.

"You little liar!" he snarled. "This wing is a fake!"

"Sorry Egghead, but this is as real as they come."

"Then why does my detector say otherwise?!" Eggman leered at him menacingly. Tails and Knuckles gulped, and the doctor's grin returned. "But no matter. I expected you to trick me like that, so I made sure your visit would not be unprofitable to me." With that, he yanked on a lever, and a sudden whirring sound surrounded them as a dark, sinister mass swirled around them.

"Gah! What is this?!" Knuckles cried.

"I knew this was a trick!" Tails shouted.

"It actually wasn't a trick, you mutated fox," Eggman growled. "If you had actually brought the real Silver Wing, you wouldn't be caught in this storm right now. But as it is, you tried to trick me, and now you'll pay the price!"

A sudden pull from above negated gravity's influence as Sonic and his friends were pulled into a void that suddenly appeared, only to disappear just as quickly, and the swirling mass with it.

Eggman's eyes widened. "That wasn't supposed to happen…"

* * *

><p>"Whoaaaaaaa!" Sonic cried as he fell to the ground face-first, Tails and Knuckles right beside him. He regained his bearings quickly and stood up, spitting the dust out of his mouth as he did so.<p>

"Yugh. That doesn't taste very good," Tails imitated him.

"Ouch," Sonic rubbed his head. "I hit my head on something."

"Yeah, _my_ head," Knuckles imitated him.

Tails looked around, confused. "But where are we now?"

Sonic and Knuckles did likewise. "This is strange," Sonic mused. "Tails, do you have your GPS?"

"Yeah, here," he nodded, pulling the device out. To their dismay, the screen was completely blank. "What? What is this?"

"Dead batteries?" Knuckles suggested.

"I charged it this morning! That's impossible!"

"And we used it to find Eggman, didn't we?" Sonic added. "So if that's the case, it must be our location...wherever that is."

"How do we find out?" Knuckles wondered.

"If you men weren't so adamant, you could ask for directions."

The three of them froze. "Who's there?" Knuckles asked.

"I know that voice," Sonic gritted his teeth.

"You're very perceptive, blue twerp!"

"Oh, great," Tails groaned. Two humans and their Meowth dropped from the ceiling. The humans were dressed in white suits with big red R's plastered onto their shirts. The woman had fiery magenta hair styled back in a huge curl, while the man had shoulder-length lavender hair.

"That's right! Now, prepare for trouble, it's just what you see!"

"And make it double, cuz we're in HD!"

"I'm gonna throw this game in the trash!" Knuckles shouted, interrupting them. They glared at him in anger. "We don't have time to listen to your stupid motto! We're lost, we don't know where we are, and we need to find answers! We're not dealing with you today, so shut up and leave!"

"We know where you are," Jessie of Team Rocket said.

"We can help you out," James added.

And why would we trust you?" Sonic folded his arms across his chest.

"You wouldn't," Meowth smirked, imitating him.

"I thought so. Then we need to find someone we can trust."

"But who can help us?" Tails wondered.

"Just say please."

They perked on hearing that voice which, while not always welcome, was still trustworthy in a pinch.

"Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed.

The ultimate lifeform stepped out from the shadows, arms at his sides. "Long time no see, Sonic. Think you could lend us a hand?"

* * *

><p>Misty sat in the large cell, hugging her knees fearfully and shivering slightly as the air blowing in rustled her. Eggman said he would be back in a few minutes if things went according to plan. It had now been ten minutes, and she feared that Sonic hadn't shown up at all. She was growing ever more anxious with each minute that passed.<p>

Finally, the door opened, revealing a surprising sight. Eggman was there, but he looked neither happy nor angry. In a rare turn of events, he looked distraught.

"What's the matter?" she snarked. "Lost the wing in your obnoxious blazer?"

"The wing they brought me was a fake," he replied immediately. "I made sure they paid the price."

"What did you do to them?!" she shouted angrily.

"That's what worries me."

Her eyes widened in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I used a new secret weapon I created. I've tested it to perfection, but the second I used it against them, something strange happened. They disappeared into a void of sorts."

"A void?" Misty repeated in worry.

"I meant to punish them, but now I don't know where they are."

"You're sure they're not dead?"

"If I wanted to kill them, I would have electrocuted them," he grumbled at her. "Death would be too merciful for them at this point. But they're alive. If they were dead, my tracker would have told me. I don't know where they are now, but they're alive. Don't worry about it." That last sentence was laced with sarcasm.

Misty looked even more worried now. _Eggman's schemes never go wrong in this sense. Oh, Sonic...where are you now?_

* * *

><p>"Say that again?" Sonic's jaw dropped.<p>

"This is the distant future," Shadow repeated himself. "We're standing in the ruins of the Indigo Plateau."

"How did you get here?" Tails asked.

"Well you see, what happened was –" James stared, but Shadow swatted him.

"That's no concern of yours," he replied. Tails was about to object, but Sonic stopped him. "All that matters is that we get back to our time."

"As soon as possible," Knuckles nodded.

"What difference would that make?" Meowth reminded him.

"Yeah, good point."

"So how do we get back?" Tails asked.

Shadow gestured to the ruined Plateau. "We need a space-time rift. That's what brought us here in the first place, and that worries me."

Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he has). "Why?"

"That's no concern of yours," Shadow snapped.

"Right," he shrugged uncertainly. "So how do we make this space-time rift? We don't have that kind of power, do we?"

Shadow looked him square in the eye and held out his palm in a familiar shape. Sonic observed this and nodded in understanding. "I get it. Your Chaos Control will create this rift, right?"

"No." Everyone looked at him in surprise. "My Chaos Control alone is insufficient."

"You mean...you need someone else to use Chaos Control? You need...me?" Shadow nodded. "Well, I don't have an emerald on me, so how will this work?"

"There are many things time can affect," Shadow explained, then turned to Knuckles. "But the Chaos Emeralds serve something that transcends time. They cannot be erased."

Knuckles raised his eyebrow, or whatever he had. "The Master Emerald is here, too?"

"Of course. It transcends time. Did you not know that?"

"The emerald has shattered a few times in its existence. How does that work?"

"It makes little difference."

Knuckles nodded. "The Master Emerald has many mysteries to it. No guardian has ever seen everything it has to offer us."

"So the Chaos Emeralds are here," Tails spoke.

"If we could get your GPS to work, finding them would be a cinch," Sonic sighed.

"So what are we gonna do?" Knuckles kicked a rock in disappointment.

"We can help."

Everyone turned to look at Team Rocket, puzzled. "You?" Sonic was skeptical.

"What are you gonna do?" Tails asked, getting defensive. "Wire it to blow up?"

"Don't be hasty," Shadow stopped them. "They helped me fix something, and they're in the same predicament as us. They can help."

"We'll get that PSG working again in no time!" Meowth cheered.

"That's GPS, Meowth," James corrected him.

"Don't blow my cool."

"All right," Sonic nodded. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this chili dog fixed!"

Team Rocket derp-faced. "Um…"

"Just don't dignify that with a response," Shadow held a hand out to stop them before they could say anything else.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Sinister Future

As soon as Tails' GPS was fixed, they set off to search for the emeralds. Sonic ran through the ruins, shocked at what he saw.

Indigo Plateau wasn't just in ruins. It was practically destroyed. The tower that once stood as the headquarters for all the world's Pokemon trainers, especially the strongest of the strong, had fallen and now covered the whole of Route 23. As Sonic rushed through, he saw fire burning everywhere.

"The whole place is on fire!" he exclaimed. "But how? Was this place recently destroyed?"

Soon enough, he came to a corridor that looked like it was once part of the tower's interior. "Hm...I wonder if there are any Chaos Emeralds around here." With that, he strode through, but he stopped when he heard voices.

"What happened?"

"The world began falling apart about two-hundred years ago. After the deaths of a certain Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik and Misty of Cerulean City, the one responsible for all this took the liberty to disrupt the harmony of nature."

Sonic ventured to look in, though he remained hidden. "But why would they do that?" His eyes widened when he saw the white hedgehog who had spoken. _It's him!_

"It makes no matter," his companion, a hidden figure, said. Sonic looked intently at this figure. Something about him seemed familiar...yet he knew he'd never seen him before. It didn't help that this stranger was shrouded in a dark cloak. Yet his voice...his mannerisms...they all seemed to line up with those of someone else..._but who?!_

"Close your eyes, and I will take you to the past." Then, in a sudden but slow transition, they disappeared.

"Who was that guy?" Sonic wondered aloud, now coming into the open since no one was there to catch him. Shortly after, Tails and Knuckles walked in behind him.

"Get a load of this place," Knuckles grumbled. "How did all this happen?"

"Maybe this database will tell us," Tails suggested, pointing at the computer in front of them. He began doing some research, his eyes widening. "Oh, man."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"According to this database, the world turned to ash when Eggman's ship crashed into Fire Island of the Shamouti Isles, angering the legendary Fire Bird Moltres and setting off a massive disruption in the balance of power. In this crash, Eggman was killed, along with Misty."

"Misty?!" Sonic exclaimed in fright. "Oh, no. When did this happen in our time?"

Tails gulped. "It's only a day or two after the point when we got caught in that trap of Eggman's."

"Wait a minute," Knuckles butted in, "Couldn't they have used the Silver Wing to empower the Guardian of the Seas? I've heard that he has the power to restore the balance of power."

"The Silver Wing went down with Misty, and was never found," Tails continued. "Nothing could be done."

"Then it's clear what we have to do," Sonic nodded. "We need to get back to the present and save Misty from Eggman. If he takes her down with him, then there's no hope for the future."

Tails and Knuckles nodded, and the threesome set out.

* * *

><p>"They're late," Jessie grumbled.<p>

"Probably doing something good," James agreed.

"I can't take it anymore!" Meowth snapped. "I want to get back to our time, and I want to do it now!"

"Shut it, Meowth," Shadow growled. "We're working as fast as we can. Sonic and the rest of them must have found something, or they got held up. Either way, I'm sure they're on their way."

"And now we're here," the familiar voice of Sonic grinned. Team Rocket sighed loudly in relief. "What? Kept ya waiting?"

"For hours," Jessie sighed.

"Since when did you go so slow?" James grumbled.

"The fastest thing alive, going slow?" Shadow growled again. "Give me a break." He turned to Sonic. "Any luck?"

"Not much," he shrugged. "We did find some interesting things, like a mysterious person in a cloak that I swear I've never –"

"Wait, what?" Shadow perked, suddenly interested. "A man in a cloak?"

"Yeah. He was talking to someone I ran into in the present: a white hedgehog, to be precise."

Shadow clenched his fists, heart thumping. "He's still here, is he?"

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Knuckles wondered aloud.

Shadow ignored him. "We have to keep moving," he beckoned, holding out his hand. A green gem was glowing in his palm.

Tails gasped. "A Chaos Emerald! You found one!"

"Yes," Shadow nodded. "I'll use it as radar to find another one, and then we'll be out of here."

"All right," Sonic nodded. "Where to?"

Shadow closed his eyes a moment, then looked Sonic in the eye. "Head to Mt. Silver. The emerald should be somewhere around there."

"You coming, too?"

"Not yet. I have some unfinished business over here. We'll catch up with you later."

"What are we waiting for, that stupid loading screen?" Meowth grumbled.

"All right, then," Sonic turned to head off. "Don't be late."

"Same to you."

With that, he took off.

* * *

><p>"I don't remember Mt. Silver looking like this," Sonic mused as he dashed through the barren Silver Plains.<p>

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"We've never been here before," Knuckles added.

"I know," Sonic affirmed, "but Baseball Head told me a lot about this place and how it was where he competed in a conference of sorts. He was gonna take Bandanas here for their anniversary, but something happened."

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Some blizzards surrounded this place and drove everyone away."

There was silence for a moment as the blue blur continued to run, thoughts running through each of their heads.

"Do you think it was premeditated?" Knuckles suggested, breaking the silence.

"It sounds awfully suspicious," Tails agreed.

"But who could have such power as to create an artificial blizzard?" Knuckles wondered.

"Eggman?" Tails suggested.

"Hm," Sonic shrugged. "I guess we'll have to find out when we get back to our own time."

The rest of the run across the Silver Plains was generally quiet, and soon the inseparable trio found themselves inside Mt. Silver. Torches lit the walls surrounding them.

"Well this is odd," Tails mused on observing this.

"What? That it's like a castle?" Sonic smirked.

"No," Tails replied. "This is a mountain in the wild, right? Yet these torches have clearly been intentionally set up."

Sonic's eyes widened. "You're right," he breathed, remembering another room he walked about a year ago that shared a similar characteristic. "Then that means…"

"Are we being watched?" Knuckles wondered.

"I don't know," Sonic shook his head, "but I'm not gonna take my chances. Let's get moving and find that Chaos Emerald."

The other two agreed and continued on until they came to a large wall. "I got this," Knuckles told them, punching his fists into the wall and climbing up with one of his signature abilities. Then he tossed a conveniently placed rope down to them, which they used to ascend, and they pressed onwards. They continued going on like this until they came to the summit. They looked around, but the view around them was strangely obscured.

"Does anyone else have an eerie feeling?" Sonic asked obnoxiously aloud.

"Sh!" Tails hissed, covering his mouth. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"Yeah, me neither," Knuckles agreed.

"Then it's not just me."

The three of them turned and saw Shadow and Team Rocket standing beside them. "There's something sinister at work here. I don't know what it is, but we need to be careful."

They nodded and continued onwards together. "So, what kept ya?" Sonic asked in curiosity.

"None of your business," Shadow retorted. "Let's just get the Chaos Emerald and get out of here."

"Eureka!" Meowth cheered. "There it is!"

Everyone looked up and smiled. "It's about time we found you," Jessie eyes the emerald, greedily reaching for it. "Now we can get back home."

"Don't touch it!" Shadow shouted, but he had hardly spoken when the emerald glowed violently bright, throwing Jessie back while a dark, sinister mass shot out of the emerald and into the sky, a frightful shrieking sound surrounding them. Then all was still, leaving the group stunned.

"What was that?" Tails wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Shadow mused, "but the sinister feeling has faded. Let's get out of here."

Shadow had hardly finished his statement when the shriek of a bird caused them all to freeze in place. The air around them started to heat up as the sound of wings pounding the air became louder and louder and all the more menacing. Finally, Sonic snapped.

"Get down!" he shouted. Everyone ducked, just as a searing wave of heat flew straight over them. When they looked up, they saw a fiery bird-like creature majestically flying over them, glaring at them with a menacing glare.

"What is that?!" Tails exclaimed in fright.

"Moltres," Shadow growled, getting into a battle position.

_GYAOO!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Flames of Disaster

The titan of fire landed in front of the frightened group, eyes glowering down at them menacingly. The flames that emblazoned its wings, tail, and head glowed fiercely as Moltres shrieked at them once again.

"Is this about that time I dressed up for this part?" James squealed in fear.

"Or maybe it wants revenge for us foiling its rage all those years ago!" Jessie shuddered.

"I don't know what it wants," Sonic cracked his knuckles, "but I'm not willing to get barbecued to find out!"

"Hold it, Sonic," Shadow held a hand out. "We need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan," Sonic retorted. "Attack!" With that, he curled up into a ball and shot straight at Moltres' belly, only to be bounced off and sent careening to the ground. "HOT HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" he shrieked, running around as fire burned his fur. Finally, he flopped onto the ground, putting it out.

The damage had been done, and Moltres shrieked once again, a ball of fire forming in its mouth. "WATCH OUT!" Tails screamed, and everyone jumped out of the way as a massive blast of fire careened into the midst of them, exploding on the spot.

"Didn't think this through," Sonic grumbled, facepalming.

"I told you we needed a plan, you dolt!" Shadow growled angrily as Moltres roared once again, another ball of fire forming in its mouth. "Leave this to me." With that, a small streak of energy formed in his hand and shot at Moltres' head. It scored a direct hit, and Moltres was clearly angered by it. With a mighty flap of its wings, it took to the air and began spewing fire down at them from above.

"Great! Now what?!" Sonic cried as they ran about in desperation.

"Why didn't we bring our Pokemon along for the trip?!" James cursed as they ran.

"We were told to leave them behind!" Jessie squealed.

"If only we had a Hyper Beam to incinerate that thing!" Meowth cried, desperately holding onto Jessie's hair to keep himself from being incinerated.

"Hey Sonic, I have an idea!" Knuckles called. "Throw me up there!"

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock. "Knuckles –!?"

"Just do it!"

Sonic, not willing to waste any time, nodded and gave Knuckles a strong launch that landed him, with a little luck and maneuvering, right on the titan's back. Moltres didn't know this until the red echidna gave it a strong punch, causing it to howl in pain and thrash about. Knuckles lost his grip and fell back to the ground for a rough landing.

"Well, whataya know?" Sonic grinned, helping him up. "Your plan actually worked!"

"For once," Knuckles shrugged.

"Look out!" Tails cried, pushing them out of the way as another stream of fire barely missed them.

"That was close," Sonic shuddered. "But now what?"

"We have to get it out of the air," James came up to them. "But our hot air balloon is back in the past. And without our Pokemon, there's no way we can hurt that bird."

"We'll have to improvise," Shadow agreed. "That was a nice move with Knuckles, but I don't think he could survive another hit. I say someone needs to distract it while Sonic goes up there and bashes it over the head."

"Leave that to me," Tails nodded, his namesakes already spinning as he took off. Sonic jumped up to him and grabbed his hands. Tails then began swinging his arms until they gave Sonic full launch power, landing him on Moltres' back. Once again, Moltres didn't know anything thanks to Tails distracting it until Sonic slammed it over the head with his homing attack. Moltres roared in agony, its flight becoming increasingly wobbly until it finally crashed into the ground, weakened.

"Nice strategy, Shadow," Sonic nodded as he jumped off the fallen titan's back. "You seem to have a thing for that."

"Unlike some people I know," Shadow retorted, half-jokingly.

Sonic looked down at his feet and saw the Chaos Emerald they found earlier laying there. He picked it up and held it out. "Ready?"

"Ready," Shadow nodded, holding his out. Then they cried out with one voice:

"Chaos Control!"

A small glow appeared in between them, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound. Sonic looked at his friends, nodded, and jumped in, followed by the others.

* * *

><p>The sun rose slowly on Indigo Plateau, showering it with a glorious array of color that no artist could ever hope to replicate. The night had been long and quiet, but at long last the morning birds began singing out their morning song. The sound was pleasant, except to the raven-haired teen sleeping next to the window looking out at the glorious sight. His eyes winced as he tried to shut out the sunlight, but his efforts proved for naught when an electric current shocked his body awake.<p>

"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash grumbled in slight annoyance. "I needed that."

"_Pikachu_," Pikachu smirked. Ash chuckled and scratched him behind the ears. Then they got ready for the day, showering, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and finally heading outside. Ash looked around, puzzled.

"Where's May?" he wondered. "I guess she's still sleeping."

"Maybe," a familiarly sweet voice chirped. Ash grinned and turned towards its owner.

"You got up early, didn't you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe," she winked. He just chuckled and pulled her into a warm embrace, kissing her lightly as he did so.

"Probably getting ready for a little battle?" he whispered, a smirk on his face.

"Maybe," she replied again, pulling away so she could look into his eyes, winking. Ash merely chuckled.

Suddenly, a humming sound faded in from behind Ash, startling them. They turned and looked at the source, eyes wide. A strange glowing wormhole had appeared before them, spinning quickly.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud. May didn't reply. Suddenly, a familiar shape jumped out of it, landing right on its feet. Right as it did so, the wormhole disappeared. Ash broke out into a grin. "Sonic!"

Sonic looked up sharply, but he grinned when he saw who his companions were. "Hey, Baseball Head! Bandanas! What brings you here?"

Ash raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "What do you mean? I think _we_ should be the ones asking _you_ that."

"Oh," Sonic blinked as he remembered his predicament. Then he sweatdropped. "Right...heh. My bad. Um...long story…"

"What was that wormhole thing?" May wondered.

"_Pika Pikachu_."

"Oh!" Sonic perked. "That was a space-time rift. Tails, Knuckles, and I got sent to the future by Eggman, and we used that to get back."

"Eggman?" Ash repeated.

"Oh yeah, you haven't heard!" Sonic exclaimed, realizing. "Eggman kidnapped Misty. He wants something from her and I don't know what."

"Misty?!" Ash exclaimed in shock. "What – where did he take her?!"

"Last I heard, he was headed off to Johto," Sonic explained. "We don't have much time, though: probably a day or two."

"What then?" May asked worriedly.

The blue blur shuddered. "Eggman's ship crashes, taking him and Misty down."

Ash and May gasped. "_What_?!"

"I can't waste any more time," Sonic stretched his legs quickly. "If I don't stop him, the world's gonna end! Catch ya later!" With that, he took off.

Ash clenched his fists and scrunched his eyes, clearly conflicted. May looked concerned. "Ash?"

"Aw, man," he moaned. "This is exactly what I didn't want to happen."

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her sadly. "I wanted us to celebrate our anniversary together without any disturbance. So much for that."

"Are you gonna go after them?"

He scrunched his eyes again. "I should, but...I promised you that we wouldn't be having any of that until our anniversary was over."

May walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Ash," she said quietly, "Misty is one of your best friends, not to mention one of your first mentors. You two have been close for a long time. To abandon her in her time of need is foolish. She needs you. Don't leave her like this."

He looked back at her and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry this had to happen, May."

"It's okay," she smiled. "And besides, you won't be alone. I'll be right there with you."

He lightened up considerably at that. "All right...let's go save Misty!"

"_Pi-Pikachu_!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Have you been wondering about what's really going on in this story? Well, you're about to find out.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Forward Motion<p>

The Magnet Train was moving at a steady 300 mph from Saffron City to Goldenrod City. The passengers were taking in the sights and thoroughly enjoying the ride.

"Fennekin, look!" one of the passengers, a blue-eyed blonde, exclaimed eagerly. "It's Indigo Plateau!"

"_Fenne? Fennekin_!" the Kalos-native Pokemon smiled.

"Just think: in a few minutes, we'll be passing Mt. Silver, and not long after that, we'll be in Goldenrod! I can't wait to get back in action!"

"_Fennekin_!" Fennekin squealed in delight.

The train suddenly lurched, picking up 10 mph of speed. The blonde started. "What was that?"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE DISREGARD THE SUDDEN INCREASE IN SPEED THIS TRAIN IS UNDERGOING. THIS IS SIMPLY A HIJACKING. WELL, AT LEAST I'D CALL IT THAT IF THIS WAS A PLANE, BUT IT'S NOT, SO...UH, THIS IS AWKWARD…"

The blonde's eyes widened. "Wait...was that –?!"

"_Fenne_?"

Now she was scared. "It is! It's Eggman!"

* * *

><p>"Where would Eggman be hiding in Johto?" May wondered as she and Ash strolled through town.<p>

"I thought he was hiding somewhere in Sinnoh," Ash mused, equally puzzled. "Charizard's flown around there every so often and told me he saw Eggman's logo on a couple of hillsides on Mt. Coronet. So why would he stop in Johto?"

May shivered. "There must be something that he wants."

"We have to find him," Ash agreed.

* * *

><p>"Tails?" Sonic pulled out his link. "Got anything?"<p>

"Well I haven't found Eggman, but word on the street is that he's hijacked the Magnet Train!"

"Hijacked?" Sonic repeated, puzzled. "I thought that only happened on planes."

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, "He's taken over the Magnet Train!"

"On my way!" Sonic assured him, closing down the link and rushing to the rescue.

* * *

><p>"YOU NEED NOT WORRY," came the voice of Eggman once again. "I'M ONLY USING THIS TRAIN AS A MEANS OF RAPID TRANSPORTATION TO GET TO JOHTO AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. SO JUST SIT DOWN LIKE OBEDIENT CITIZENS AND I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE."<p>

Everyone complied, including the blonde girl, for fear of what Eggman would do if they rose up. But her Pokemon, Fennekin, was restless, and jumped out of her lap, much to her dismay.

"Fennekin!" she exclaimed in fright. "No! Come back!" She leapt up in pursuit. Fennekin began yelling out the window, as though calling for help. The blonde girl pulled at her Pokemon, desperately trying to get it to stop.

"I WARNED YOU TO STAY DOWN!" the voice of Eggman came. "NOW YOU'LL PAY." The train started speeding up again, this time uncontrollably. The windows flew open because of this, and Fennekin flew out.

"NO!" the blonde cried in horror. "Fennekin!" She sunk to the ground in devastation, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey! Whose fox is this?!"

She perked and looked out the window, stunned by what she saw: a blue hedgehog, running as fast as the train, carrying her Pokemon!

"Sonic!" she exclaimed. "Fennekin! Thank goodness!"

Sonic brought Fennekin back to her trainer. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"No problem," he gave her a thumbs-up. "Now, leave the rest to me. I'm gonna stop this train!" With that, he dashed away, heading straight for the front of the train while she went back to her seat, Fennekin in her arms.

* * *

><p>"Tails! How much longer do we have before this train loses its bonkers?"<p>

"Well assuming it hasn't already, five minutes," came the reply from the X-Tornado.

"Got it!" Sonic replied, getting a large amount of distance between him and the front of the train. Then, he dashed forward, palms outstretched, and started pushing against the train, straining himself to the breaking point. "URRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" he grunted as he pushed in desperation. "GOTTA...STOP THIS...TRAIN!"

The train screamed in anger and stubbornly fought back against the blue blur, but in the end the fastest thing alive won out, slowing the train to a stop. The passengers all breathed in relief.

"You insolent hedgehog!"

Sonic looked up and saw Eggman hovering over him in his ship, Misty in tow. "You're going to pay for that!"

Misty, taking advantage of Eggman's distraction, jumped out of the ship, much to his dismay. "What – MISTY!?"

"Hang in there, Mist!" Sonic called out, rushing to save her. He caught her and set her down, safe and sound.

"Thank you, Sonic," she replied, smiling warmly at him. "I can always count on you." With that, she hugged him a moment.

"Whoa! Hey!" he shouted, caught off-guard. "Bestiality, much?! What is this, Sonic Next-Gen?!"

"Oh, don't be so immature," she teased him as she let him go. "What hair-brained idiot human would fall in love with a hedgehog?"

"Or a Pokemon," Sonic shrugged.

"You little pest!"

They looked up and saw Eggman leering down at them, mechanical arms reaching for Misty. "I'll take her back, thank you very much, then I'll rip you to –"

He never finished, as Sonic jumped into a ball and knocked the mechanical arms out of commission. Eggman was livid. "CURSE YOU, SONIC! I'm not through with you yet!" With that, he flew away, cursing to himself.

"We should get away from here," Sonic suggested. Misty nodded, and they ran off, the eyes of the blonde girl from the train following them.

* * *

><p>"You think we lost him?" Misty asked after a while. They settled down and rested a moment to catch their breath.<p>

"For now," Sonic shrugged. "What exactly does he want with you, anyway?"

"It's not me that he wants," she replied. "It's the Silver Wing."

"The what?"

"The Silver Wing," she repeated. "He didn't say much, but I can only assume that he wants to use it to control Lugia."

"Who's Lugia?"

"It's known as the beast of the sea," Misty explained. "When a greedy collector tried to capture it along with Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, he upset the balance of power and jeopardized the whole world. Lugia rose to quell the three birds' fighting, but alone it could do nothing."

"Wow," Sonic mused. "What happened next?"

"Uh, well," Misty scratched her head, trying to remember something.

"What?"

"Hm," she hummed. "There was a prophecy. I can't remember how it went...ugh – oh that's right! It went something like this:

_Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning,_

_Lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash._

_Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting,_

_Alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash._

_O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three._

_Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea._

Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he had) in intrigue. "What does that mean?"

"It means that the three legendary birds, when the balance of their power was upset, would endanger the world as we know it. Lugia would try to stop them, but on its own it could not succeed."

"'And thus the earth shall turn to ash?'" Sonic repeated, pondering. "And then there's this chosen dude who's supposed to tame the beast of the sea...Lugia...or the world will end?"

"No, Sonic," she smiled knowingly. "The world won't end...it will just turn to ash."

"What's the difference?!" he looked at her incredulously. She just smiled at him while he furiously pondered what she meant. "The earth shall turn to ash? That sounds pretty apocalyptic to me!" He tapped his foot. "Could it have something to do with one of those birds, maybe? I don't know. Articuno? Hm. Zapdos? That's an odd name. What about Moltres? I suppose that could be it. After all, fire turns stuff to dust, right? Yeah, that –"

Suddenly it hit him. "Wait...Moltres was one of those birds?!"

Misty started at his sudden alarm. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Sonic began running the prophecy through his head again. "'Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash.' Fire, ice, lightning...and Moltres was so fiery…"

He looked up at her in alarm. "Where's the Silver Wing now?!"

"Unless something happened, Brock still has it," she replied. "Why?"

"We have to keep it away from Eggman!" he exclaimed. "If he gets a hold of it, then everything we've been fighting to prevent will blow up!"

"What?" she looked puzzled. "Sonic, what are you talking about?!"

"No time to explain!" he replied, picking her up. "We've got to get to Brock as soon as possible!" With that, he took off.

"I don't understand what's going on!" she called over the rush of the wind.

"It's okay!" he replied. "The writers don't get it either!"

As his feet pounded the ground beneath him, his mind started racing faster than his feet. _That Moltres we fought in the future must be the Moltres of the prophecy! But how did it get ticked off? Well if that's the case, then Articuno and Zapdos must be out there, too. Lugia's our only chance to prevent something awful from happening: Lugia and this mysterious Chosen One. I wonder who it could be. Or maybe Misty's teasing me was just her making fun of how I'm always saving the world. That being said, maybe the Chosen One won't come until after destruction is wrought._ His mind paused a moment as he ran this through, then he sweatdropped. _Either that or I'm just missing something so blatantly obvious that when I figure out what it means I'm gonna do a massive facepalm later._

His ramblings were interrupted by a sudden lurch that knocked the two of them to the ground. He tripped and fell onto his face while Misty flew forward a few feet, skidding across the ground. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. "What –"

"This time, there will be no interruptions!"

His eyes widened when he saw the white hedgehog from earlier standing before him once again. "Oh no...not you again! Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I don't have time. The world's in jeopardy, and I'm trying to –"

"Silence!" Silver shouted. "I don't have the patience to deal with your jokes right now. The Disturbance must die!" With that, he used his telekinetic powers to throw Sonic to the ground, incapacitating him.

"Ungh!" Sonic grunted. Misty looked on in fright as her friend got pummelled, unaware of two mechanical arms reaching for her.

"Did you enjoy your little walk, Misty?"

She screamed. "No! Not again!"

Sonic looked up on hearing this just in time to see Eggman lift off with his prey. "Misty! No, stop!"

"Sonic, it's okay!" she called as she was carried away. "Find Brock and get the Silver Wing!"

Sonic clenched his fists in determination, eyes glimmering. "I will." With that, he tried to take off, but the telekinesis knocked him into a wall once again.

"It's no use!" Silver shouted. "You're mine!" With that, he began charging an ultimate psychic blast. Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for the worst.

"THUNDERBOLT, NOW!"

The next thing Silver knew, a powerful electric current coursed through his body, releasing his grip on Sonic. Sonic got up, as did Silver. Standing in between them was a figure whose facial features were largely hidden by a dark cloak.

"What the –?!" Silver exclaimed, seemingly shocked. "Mephiles!? Why are you getting in my way?! I thought that you –"

"Who are you calling _Mephiles_, you creep?!" the figure stood up, facing Silver. Sonic's eyes widened in recognition.

"Baseball Head?!"

The figure turned around, grinning at Sonic and winking. "You do what you have to do, Sonic," Ash assured him. "I'll take care of this." Sonic gave him a thumbs-up and took off, much to Silver's dismay as he braced himself to face his new foe.

* * *

><p><strong>Whataya think? Feel free to R&amp;R!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The True Disturbance

It didn't take long for Sonic the reach Pewter City, where Brock currently was. When he arrived, he found the former gym leader at his home, taking care of his siblings. As soon as he heard what was happening, he quickly went with Sonic to a secret place.

"So Eggman wants to take control of Lugia, does he?" Brock shuddered. "That'll bring about a lot of destruction." He shuddered as he remembered the last time someone tried to take control of the legendary beast of the sea. "Our first priority should be to keep the Silver Wing out of his hands. We'll save Misty as soon as my Pokemon are ready to go."

"When will that be?" Sonic asked anxiously.

"Two days."

Sonic looked up to the darkening sky, fear gripping him as Tails' words about Misty and Eggman's deaths rang through his mind like a death knell: _It's only a day or two after the point when we got caught in that trap of Eggman's._

"No," he insisted. "We have to save her before tomorrow ends."

"Without my Pokemon, there's no way I'll be able to help. They need more time."

"We don't have any more time, Brock!" Sonic shouted, taking the breeder aback.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, puzzled.

Sonic then proceeded to tell him about how Eggman had sent him to the future and how he discovered that, assuming the databases were correct, Misty and Eggman would die the next day.

"Then we don't have a choice but to act now," Brock nodded. "Stay in town: rest for the night. You're going to need all your strength." Sonic reluctantly agreed, as he had taken a hard beating from Silver. He resolved, however, to take off at the break of dawn to save Misty.

There wasn't a moment to waste.

* * *

><p>"Since you won't comply with my demands and bring me the Silver Wing, you've left me no choice but to force my hand," Eggman growled as his battleship started to hum. Misty was tied to a chair at the back of the control room.<p>

"You can't do this," she ground her teeth. "You'll only bring destruction. Nothing good can come out of this."

"Don't be ridiculous," he sneered. "Once Lugia is mine to command, nothing will be able to stop me. Or do you believe in that silly prophecy as old as the beast itself?!"

"The prophecy may be old, but it's true!" she snapped.

Eggman just chuckled. "Blind faith. It's the downfall of every hero."

"It's not blind faith!" she growled. "I saw the fulfillment of the prophecy with my own two eyes. I know it's true!"

"Oh, really?" Eggman sneered, suddenly intrigued. "Then you saw the end of the world, did you? Ha! Such idiocy! You know very what it says, or should I remind you? 'The earth shall turn to ash!' Tell me, how is it that the world still lives on if it turned to ash?"

Misty clenched her fists. "You've got it wrong, Eggman."

"Then enlighten me when I've tamed the beast of the sea!" he snarled, slapping her to shut her up. The battleship's humming grew louder as Misty felt themselves get lifted up higher. His wicked grin grew as they ascended, while he repeated the last lines of the prophecy to himself:

"'O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three; Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea.'"

Misty shivered at the thought of what he was planning. _Lugia may rise to stop this madness_ she thought, _but there's no way it will be able to stop him alone._ She squeezed her eyes shut in fear. _And then...the world will turn to ash…_

* * *

><p>Deep in the battleship, where the engine ran, security was maximized in order to prevent anyone from tampering with the ship's intricate details that, if meddled with, would cause the ship to plummet. Yet somehow, a sinister figure managed to make its way into this chamber unseen and undetected.<p>

"Sorry, Eggman," it sneered, "but I'm afraid your flight is coming to an end...along with the rest of the world." With that, he laughed wickedly as he began to rewire some of the critical parts inside the ship in such a way that would prove fatal to anyone on board.

* * *

><p>As Sonic ran through the untamed wilderness connecting Pewter City to Indigo Plateau, his heart thumped harder than ever before. <em>I can't let Misty die. Not like this. Eggman won't get away with whatever it is he's planning. But why am I so worried? Have I ever been so worried about anyone before? Could this be…<em>

His face suddenly sported a deadpan expression when he realized what he was thinking. _I swear, whoever wrote this story is gonna get a serious visit when I contact my agent._

It was at this opportune moment that a horde of wild Raticate jumped out of nowhere and landed in front of him, angered that their territory had been breached. Sonic braced himself for a fight, as did they, when they suddenly glowed an eerie green and lost control of their movement. The next thing anyone knew, they were thrown out of the way.

"Huh?" Sonic wondered aloud. "What was –?"

"You look like you're in a hurry."

Sonic cringed on hearing the now familiar voice. "Silver," he muttered, turning to face the white hedgehog. Surprisingly, Silver didn't look like he wanted to fight. "Back for more, huh?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it," Silver sighed. "Actually, circumstances have changed. You're trying to save Misty, right?"

Sonic's eyes widened. "How – what, now you have mind-reading powers?!"

"No," Silver shook his head. "That's not the point. I'm trying to save her, too."

"Oh, yeah, very funny," Sonic rolled his eyes, not believing him for a minute. "What, are you my new sidekick, courtesy of SEGA? That's Tails' bid, so I suggest you bail out! Besides, nobody likes you, and your fur is making me hallucinate!"

"Hey!" Silver snapped back. "It's a rebel style! Anyways, I don't have time to bicker with you. I need to save Misty."

"Not a chance," Sonic growled. "She's in my boat, so I suggest you stay out of the way!"

"Sonic, I'm trying to help you. I know I tried to kill you before, but I was mistaken about who you were. Now I know who our real enemy is, and unless you help me, there's no way we can stop him!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he had) on hearing this. _Does he know about the prophecy? Does he know how to stop Eggman? Maybe – NO. He tried to kill me, and now he's just manipulating me as a change of tactics._

"No big," he turned away. "I can stop Eggman all on my own." With that, he took off.

Five minutes later, however, he found himself caught under the grip of Silver's telekinesis once again. "Aw, come on!" he groaned. "Really?!"

"I told you, I need your help!" Silver insisted. "And the truth is, like it or not, you need mine, too!"

"I'll be just fine without you, two-face!" he snapped back. "I know you're manipulating me just so you can double-cross me!"

"You've got it wrong, just like I did!"

"No, I'm pretty sure I –"

"HEY!"

The two of them started on hearing this and turned towards the owner of the sudden voice, who turned out to be none other than…"

"Baseball Head?" Sonic exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! Would you please do me a favor and get rid of this –"

"Zip it, Sonic," Ash stopped him. "I've had enough of this pointless bickering. Believe me, it gets you nowhere fast." He turned to Silver. "I told you it was a long-shot, Silver. If Sonic won't help us, then we'll just have to go it on our own."

"Wait, _what_?!" Sonic exclaimed. "What's going on here?!"

"I'd tell you, but you don't seem to be willing to listen," Silver grumbled. "So I'll let Ash do the talking."

Ash nodded and stepped forward. "Silver thought you were going to cause the destruction of the world," he explained.

"Oh, THERE'S a big surprise!" Sonic retorted. "That's an incredi–I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and DIE from that surprise!"

"I said zip it!" Ash snapped. "Anyways, some creep by the name of Mephiles told him that the only way to save his world was to kill you. But Silver recently realized that Mephiles was only using him to stall you so that Eggman would disturb the balance of power between the three Legendary Birds, the true disturbance that would destroy the future. Now he knows he needs to save Misty if he wants to save his future." He looked Sonic square in the eye. "He was trying to do the right thing, but he was misguided. Please try to understand, Sonic."

Sonic soaked all of this in and finally nodded, prompting Silver to let him down.

"A disturbance, hm?" Sonic mused. Then his eyes widened as he remembered the prophecy. "'Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning,'" he breathed, paling at the thought.

"What?" Silver looked puzzled. "Is something wrong?" He blinked. "Oh, come on! My fur should not have that effect on you!"

"HURRY!" Sonic suddenly shouted, running off, leaving Ash and Silver standing there, dumbfounded.

"I guess he still doesn't trust me," Silver shrugged. "Can't say that I blame him."

"No," Ash shook his head. "I know those words. Something's about to go terribly wrong." He looked Silver in the eye urgently. "Come on. We've got to catch up to him." With that, they took off, while Ash took care to hold onto a precious object inside his blue coat:

The Silver Wing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Kept you waiting, huh? Onward!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: To Change Fate<p>

"What the –?!" Eggman said suddenly.

Misty looked up. "What is it?"

"The ship!" he exclaimed. "Something's gone wrong! What – no! That can't be!"

"What?"

"Someone tampered with the engine!" he was visibly frightened now. "How did they get past my security?!"

"What's happening?!" Misty screamed.

"The ship's going down!"

Misty looked out the window. Her eyes widened in terror at what she saw. "STEER THIS SHIP OVER THE OCEAN!" she screamed.

"What?! Why?!"

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH INTO FIRE ISLAND AND –"

She never finished, as an implosion from within the ship flooded the room, consuming them. As the fire swallowed them up, Misty looked up and saw a sinister figure standing over her.

"Hehahahahahaha!" it sneered. "Finally...revenge is _mine_!"

* * *

><p>Sonic ran to the edge of the cliff just in time to see Eggman's ship explode in the sky. His eyes widened in horror.<p>

"NO!" he screamed, watching helplessly as the ship fell from the sky and headed on a crash course towards a nearby island.

Silver and Ash ran up not far behind him. "Oh no!" Silver exclaimed. "We were too late!"

"No," Ash clenched his fists. "Not if I can help it!" With that, he ran forward towards the edge of the cliff.

"Ash, wait!"

The next thing Ash knew, the ground beneath him gave away, sending him falling down the cliff.

"NO!" Sonic screamed. "ASH!"

"SONIC!" he screamed as he fell. "Grab this!" He threw the Silver Wing up, hoping Sonic could reach it. Sonic reached...but his reach wasn't long enough. The Wing fell down, along with Ash, and they plummeted into the ocean, while a large rock, dislodged from Eggman's ship crashing into the island, fell after them.

"Hang on!" Silver cried, jumping down after them. Sonic stood by while Silver went to save them. After a moment, he came back up, a somber look on his face.

Sonic could hardly believe it. "No," he whispered in horror. "It can't be...not Ash."

"That rock fell on top of him and killed him instantly," Silver shook his head.

"What about the Silver Wing?"

Silver shook his head again. "It's gone. I couldn't find it."

Sonic looked up as an explosion from Eggman's ship shook the island it crashed into, a horrid shrieking sound piercing their ears.

"Moltres," Silver shuddered.

"No," Sonic clenched his fists, falling to his knees as tears brimmed in his eyes. "How could this happen? Ash...Misty...please, no!"

For a moment, the two of them did nothing. Silver just stood there in disbelief while Sonic stayed on the ground, pounding his fists in anger and sadness and doing everything he could to hold back his anguished sobs.

"I guess fate doesn't want to change," Silver sighed sadly. Sonic looked up, tears falling down his face. "The world's gonna turn to ash."

"We can't give up," he shook his head. "But what can we do?"

Silver looked at his empty hand, clenching it as though desperate for an answer to Sonic's question. Then he abruptly opened it again.

"Wait a minute," he muttered. "We can change this."

"Huh?"

Silver looked him in the eye. "We can change history!"

"Change history," Sonic blinked a moment as he processed this, then he wiped his tears away and stood up. "I get it," he nodded. "We go back in time to stop Eggman from sealing Misty's fate." He pulled out a Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

With that, a small glow appeared in between them, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound. Sonic looked back at Silver. "I'm going to change Misty's fate, and that in turn should change Ash's fate...and your future."

Silver nodded. "Good luck, Sonic."

"Thank you, Silver," the blue blur replied. With that, he jumped into the time-space rift.

* * *

><p>When Sonic landed, he looked up to get his bearings. "Where am I now?" he wondered aloud.<p>

"Sonic!"

He turned and saw Tails and Knuckles running towards him. "Hey guys! What's up?"

"We've located Eggman's launching site," Tails stated.

"He launches in three hours," Knuckles added.

Sonic pumped his fist. _Perfect._ "Awesome job, guys. Let's go change fate!"

* * *

><p>"He's not exactly hidden," Sonic scratched his head.<p>

"No," Tails agreed. "Then again, it's not easy hiding a large battleship like this one when its far away from its home base."

"Let's move," Knuckles said urgently. "Ash already snuck on board to stall the engine. That should give us another hour if everything goes as planned."

"I hope he'll be okay," Sonic shuddered, remembering Silver's words from before – er, after.

* * *

><p>"Okay, May," Ash spoke into his link. "I'm on board, and the security systems are down."<p>

"Roger," came May's reply. "Charizard should be here within the next hour. If anything goes wrong, holler and I'll send him in."

"Thanks, May," he replied, shutting it down. _This shouldn't be too hard._

"You think you're awfully clever, don't you?"

Ash froze in livid shock. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No. I stopped being a joker years ago."

He clenched his fists and whirled around. "You know what, Eggman?! I've had enough of – Oh! Um...I, uh...don't think you're him...er...this is awkward."

Much to his surprise – and embarrassment – the figure presenting himself before him was not Eggman. Instead, it was a mostly obscured figure dressed in a dark cloak. Its eyes were hidden by said-cloak, only a snarl visible on its face.

"You have much to learn, boy," the figure smirked. "Just as I foresaw."

"Where did this guy come from?" Ash wondered aloud to himself, seemingly preoccupied. "I could have sworn it was Eggman's voice that I heard." A moment of silence as he pondered, then he came up with a theory: "Is this game really that glitchy?"

"Don't be the idiot many people think you are!" the mysterious figure suddenly shouted, shocking Ash out of his musings. "I know you're better than that..._Ash_."

Ash started at this. "What? Who are you?! And how do you know my name?!"

The figure merely chuckled. "You can call me Mephiles...for now. Ah, I should have known you would forget about me. It's been years, hasn't it?"  
><em>Mephiles!<em> his eyes widened. _The guy who tricked Silver!_ "What are you talking about?" he asked, growing increasingly uneasy. "I've never met you before in my life!"

"You know nothing," Mephiles grinned wickedly. "I suspected as much. It will take time...but soon you will understand." With that, he seized him by the throat and covered his mouth, silencing him as his grin grew. "And then you will thank me. Hehahahahahahahahaaaaa!"

* * *

><p>"Since you won't comply with my demands and bring me the Silver Wing, I've decided to take matters into my own hands," Eggman growled as his battleship started to hum. Misty was tied to a chair at the back of the control room.<p>

"You can't do this," she ground her teeth. "You'll only bring destruction. Nothing good can come out of this."

"Don't be ridiculous," he sneered. "Once Lugia is mine to command, nothing will be able to stop me. Or do you believe in that silly prophecy as old as the beast itself?!"

"The prophecy may be old, but it's true!" she snapped.

Eggman just chuckled. "Blind faith. It's the downfall of every hero."

"It's not blind faith!" she growled. "I saw the fulfillment of the prophecy with my own two eyes. I know it's –"

"DOCTOR."

Eggman looked frustrated at being interrupted. "Now what?!"

His security came in, bringing a familiar face. "WE FOUND ONE OF YOUR ENEMIES IN THE ENGINE ROOM, TAMPERING WITH THE ENGINE TO MAKE THE SHIP EXPLODE. WE WILL SET OUT TO REMEDY HIS DOINGS."

Misty gulped. "Ash?!"

"Thank you, Nakabot," Eggman grinned wickedly. "You are dismissed." With that, "Nakabot" departed. "If I had him working on the whole of this operation, we'd be done by now," Eggman smirked to himself.

"Ash, what happened?" Misty asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Misty," Ash replied. "I'm completely unhurt, but I'm far from okay. This means trouble."

A robotic arm suddenly pinned him to a wall. "I agree," Eggman sneered maliciously. "I've waited a long time to make you pay for foiling my plans."

"NO!" Misty screamed, leaping up from her chair and tackling Eggman to the ground, knocking Ash over in the process. When they all looked up, a familiar glint caught all their eyes.

Ash gasped. "Oh no!"

Eggman stood up slowly and walked over to the source of the glint, his glasses gleaming wickedly as he picked it up and held it to the light.

"Finally," he sneered. "_The Silver Wing is mine!_"

* * *

><p><strong>Next: A sky-high finale!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Sky-High Showdown

Misty and Ash looked on in horror as Eggman placed the Silver Wing in a hatch next to the ship's controls, an evil grin plastered onto his face as he did so. "Now," he sneered, "at long last, Lugia will be mine!"

"NO!" Ash screamed, standing up and rushing at him. Eggman threw him back with his bare hands, landing painfully next to Misty.

"There's no stopping me this time, Ketchum!" Eggman roared in victory. "With the Silver Wing in hand, I have the power to control Lugia! Now, at long last, I shall tame the beast of the sea!" With that, he slammed a button on his control panel, and the room they stood in started humming.

"We've got to stop this takeoff," Misty said aloud.

"It's too late!" Ash exclaimed. "The engines are running! There's nothing we can do!"

"Let the world cower in fear," Eggman snarled as the ship started to rise. "Lugia will be mine!"

Ash and Misty looked at each other in horror as the ship slowly ascended into the sky. _Did we lose?_ Ash thought. _No. It won't end this way. It never did before, and I know it won't now._

After fifteen minutes, the ship suddenly lurched, throwing them around. "What the –?!" Eggman said.

"What is it?" Misty asked.

"The ship!" he exclaimed. "Something's gone wrong! What – no! That can't be!"

"What?"

"Someone tampered with the engine!" he was visibly frightened now, but it quickly gave way to rage as he looked at Ash. "_You_," he snarled. "_You_ did this!"

"No, I didn't," Ash shook his head. "That robot was lying to you. He's not on your side."

"Bull-crap!" Eggman screamed, seizing Ash by the throat. "You've doomed us all, and now you shall be the first to experience the fruits of your labor!" He began to strangle him.

"No!" Misty cried, pulling at Eggman, but he threw her to the side as Ash struggled to breathe.

_No_ he thought. _Please, no...help us…_

"HANDS OFF, EGGMAN!"

A sudden kick to the back of the head sent Eggman reeling forward and set Ash free from his murderous grip. "What?!"

"No Baseball Head's going to die today!"

Ash leapt up. "Sonic! You made it!"

"And just in time," Sonic nodded. "This ship took off hours ahead of schedule!"

"You irritating hedgehog!" Eggman snarled. "I'll blast you to smithereens!"

"Not before this ship sends us blasting off again!" Sonic retorted.

"Hey!" Misty shouted. "I thought Team Rocket copyrighted that!"

"Oh, goodness," Ash groaned. "Another Copyright Nazi?"

"I'll leave you all here to die while I fly off!" Eggman sneered. "Nothing will stop me once Lugia's under my –"

He was loudly interrupted by Sonic slamming a hammer onto the hatch that contained the Silver Wing, breaking it open and setting the wing free. "Sorry, Egghead, but Lugia doesn't bow to anyone."

"What?!" Eggman roared in rage. "No! NononononoNO!" He was practically throwing a tantrum now. "I WAS SO CLOSE! I HAD EVERYTHING READY TO GO, AND YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

"It's just what we do," Sonic stuck his tongue out at him. Suddenly, the ship lurched again, sending them careening toward a window. The sound of glass shattering caused them all to look out, horror lining their faces.

"ASH!" Misty cried as she watched her best friend fall from miles in the air.

Sonic watched him fall, even more horrified, as reality set in again. _This was exactly what I didn't want to happen!_ he thought in angry sadness. _I wanted to save him, too!_ He fought against his tears and turned to Eggman, rage in his eyes. Eggman, however, disappeared quickly and came back in his little one-man ship.

"_Now you've done it_," he snarled at the evil scientist. "This time, you've gone way too far!"

"Oh, really?" Eggman sneered as a large, flying robot flew up and attached itself to Eggman's little ship. "Then let's make this final battle of ours one to remember!"

"You're going down!" Sonic shouted as another explosion rocked the ship. "And you're never coming back up!"

"Bring it on!" Eggman retorted. "Here I come, Sonic!"

Misty decided to hide herself away, knowing that this was Sonic's fight now.

Eggman started off by firing three missiles at Sonic. The blue blur dodged them, prompting Eggman to charge him head-on with his machine. Sonic took advantage of this by slamming the cockpit. Eggman retorted with more missiles, which Sonic continued to dodge. Then Eggman fired two homing missiles which Sonic ran from, but with so little room to run, he found himself cramped. Thinking quickly, he jumped at Eggman's ship, making it appear that he was attacking so that Eggman readied his defenses, then pulled a backflip so that the missiles slammed into Eggman at the last second. Unfortunately, his defenses managed to ward off most of the damage, but the blow was significant enough that he needed to recalibrate his settings, leaving him open for another direct attack by Sonic. But as luck would have it, flying debris knocked the blue blur back, stunning him a moment as his room for movement grew ever smaller.

"Hahaha!" Eggman sneered. "What's the matter, Sonic? Not enough wiggle room?"

"Shut it!" he shouted back.

"Then brace yourself!" Eggman cackled as he flew at him. Sonic waited until the last second, then jumped up and grabbed onto a horn on the front of the ship, pulling on it in an effort to steer it.

"Hey!" Eggman shouted. "Stop that! You're ruining my flight!"

"That's the idea!" Sonic snapped back as the ship careened towards an exploding engine. He leapt off and back onto his ground for movement, which continued to shrink dangerously, as Eggman's ship took a hard hit from the explosion. For a moment, there was nothing. Then four missiles fired from where the machine crashed. Sonic braced himself to dodge, but the missiles never came for him. Instead, they blasted away even more of his ground so that he could no longer move without risking falling. Then the machine flew out of the smoke and careened towards him.

"If I'm going down, then you're going down with me!" Eggman roared. Sonic leapt up to dodge just in time as the machine knocked the last of his moving ground into the ocean beneath them. He yanked on the horn once again, steering it into another exploding engine, and leaping off as it impacted. He landed on some falling debris while the explosion enveloped Eggman's machine. The next thing Sonic saw, Eggman bounced up into the air in an ejection seat and started falling.

"This is embarrassing," the doctor groaned as he fell to the ocean below. Another explosion shook Sonic back into reality as he looked around ferociously for an escape.

"Sonic!"

His eyes widened. "Misty!" He ran to her and pulled her out of the gravity of a falling shell. "Are you all right?"

"We have to get out of here!" she cried as the doomed ship continued to break down.

He nodded and picked her up. "Hold on tight! This is gonna get rough!" With that, he dashed forward, jumping from one piece of falling debris to the next. They made sufficient progress towards a small island's cliff. They reached the side, and Sonic jumped up, reaching for the ledge.

His reach was too short, and they began to plummet.

"No!" Misty cried.

"Misty! Don't look!" he told her. They squeezed their eyes shut as they fell towards an exploding ship part, bracing themselves for the searing pain that would soon consume them.

It never came. Instead, they felt themselves get snatched out of the air as it blew past them, roaring in their ears.

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed. "What is –"

Misty's eyes widened. "Charizard?!"

"Somebody call for a lift?"

They looked up and grinned at the voice's owner. "Ash!" Misty exclaimed in delight.

"Baseball Head?!" Sonic exclaimed. "What –?!"

"Hang on!" Ash replied, still grinning. "I'll get us all to safe ground!" With that, they soared high into the sky as Eggman's battleship careened to its doom in the ocean beneath them. After a while, they landed on the small island.

For the first time in a while, all was quiet. Sonic and Misty stood up, while Ash dismounted from Charizard. They all looked at each other a moment, then smiled. Ash started to snicker, while Misty followed suit. Then Sonic busted out laughing, and everyone imitated him, simply enjoying each other's company for the moment.

_We made it_ Sonic thought as he finally suppressed his chuckles. _We're all alive. Fate has been changed._

"You guys are the best," Misty smiled at them.

"Well, I had to learn from somewhere," Ash winked at her.

"Hey, where's Bandanas?" Sonic wondered.

"Oh, she's back at the mainland," Ash replied. "She sent Charizard in because of the emergency."

"Is that how you survived?"

"Yep," he grinned, patting Charizard. "This here's one of my stronger Pokemon," he beamed, mockingly proud. "I gotta hand it to him, we've gotten each other through a lot."

Charizard responded in glee by firing a jet of flames. Normally, these would hit Ash, but they actually missed this time.

Guess who got the brunt of them.

"Is that his way of saying 'I love you?'" Sonic asked sarcastically, a deadpan expression on his face.

"Yep!" Ash laughed, Misty joining him. Sonic chuckled as well. "Well, we should probably get back to the mainland. We've had quite a day."

"Wait!" Misty exclaimed. "What about the Silver Wing?"

"Uh-oh," Ash muttered. "Did we lose it?"

"Nope!" Sonic grinned, holding it up. "I got it right here!"

Ash grinned. "Awesome job, Sonic."

With that, they all mounted Charizard, who quickly flew them back to Indigo Plateau. There, Ash reunited with May, while Misty and Sonic took the Silver Wing to a place where it would be safe.

Later that night, Ash and May sat on the top of Indigo Plateau, staring at the starry sky. The sky was filled with the beautiful light of the stars, untamed by light pollution.

"We've had quite a day," May sighed as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder.

"Yep," he nodded. "But it all worked out in the end."

"Do you think Eggman will come back for Misty?" she asked.

"If he does, we'll get rid of him again," Ash shrugged.

May smiled and sighed in content. "I hope not. That way, we can spend the rest of our time together as we planned it."

"I agree."

She yawned and snuggled closer to Ash, blinking tiredly. "Good night, Ash."

He chuckled and kissed her forehead lightly. "Good night, May."

As she fell asleep, he looked out at the landscape around them. It was hard to see at night, but with the starlight he could see enough: the forests, the oceans, the regions of Kanto and Johto...and the dark shadow cast over them by Mt. Silver.

He frowned. _Mt. Silver_ he thought. _I still think something's up over there. But what?_

_Ash._

He froze. "What? Who's there?"

_Don't be afraid_ the mysterious voice whispered again. _I'm not here to hurt you._

"Who are you?" he asked, growing uneasy.

_What? Have you so soon forgotten?_

He clenched his teeth as he recognized the voice. "Mephiles."

_I have other matters to attend to, so I'm only here to deliver an invitation._

"What, to death?"

_If you wish. The choice is yours. Make it, then meet me at Mt. Silver. I'll be waiting._

The voice vanished. Ash looked at the mysterious mountain, eyes drooping as he rested his head on top of May's.

_Mephiles_ he wondered as he fell asleep. _Who is he?_

* * *

><p><strong>An excellent question, but one that won't be answered here. After all, the story's not over! To read the full story, read through "Silver and the Chosen One" and "Shadow and the Dark Aura Master." Then, stay tuned for the epic last story!<strong>


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